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BARBEQUEING

Goat | Venison | Chicken | Fresh Sausage
Smoked Sausage | Turkey | Food Safety | Prep & Cooking
The Fire | Pit Roasting | Smoking | Serving | Leftovers

Summer barbeques mean  cranking up the bbq grills, charcoal, roasting pits and all the fun stuff, here are some tips to make sure your family and guests enjoy a delicious and SAFE meal.

Plan for the proper handling and preparation of all food items to prevent food borne illness. Remember the following tips when handling food:

• Keep perishable foods such as meat, poultry and fresh vegetables refrigerated until they are ready to be cooked or prepared.
• Thaw all frozen meats in the refrigerator, not at room temperature.
• Keep uncooked, cooked and prepared foods covered as much of the time as possible. Use foil on containers without lids.
• Never reuse raw material containers, such as poultry or meat boxes or vegetable containers, for holding cooked foods.
• Always wash and sanitize the cutting board, pans and lugs before reusing for cooked foods. Keep all food containers and equipment clean.
• Provide hand washing facilities at the outdoor cooking sites and always keep your hands clean.
• Provide clean hot water for cleaning during outdoor cooking. A fish fryer or gas stove can be used to heat water for washing equipment and utensils.
• Don't handle food if you have cuts or sores on your hands. Cover with a bandage and use gloves.
• Keep cold foods cold (below 40 degrees F) and hot foods hot (above 140 degrees F) when holding before serving.
• Promptly chill leftovers to below 40 degrees F in shallow containers less than four inches deep immediately after serving is complete.
• Protect the food by wearing clean clothing and keeping your hair covered.
• Comply with local ordinances concerning food preparation. Restroom facilities are recommended for large groups, and may be rented.
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Food Preparation - Cooking the Meal

Timing is the key to food preparation. Prepare all the food items so they are ready to serve hot or cold at the appointed time. In order to achieve this, prepare and refrigerate all items that can be pre assembled prior to cooking the meat. 

Prepare salad or slaw ingredients separately, then combine and mix with dressing just before serving. Hash or Brunswick stew can be cooked the day before, placed in shallow containers for rapid cooling, refrigerated and reheated just before serving. 

Vegetables that require cooking, (baked potatoes) can be held hot in thermal chests for up to two hours before serving. Rice, grits, corn on the cob, hash, green beans and baked beans can be cooked in fish fryers on-site or prepared on a stove and held for up to one hour in thermal chests before serving. 

Plan the menu to accommodate the available facilities. Baked items should be baked ahead of time or purchased from a bakery. Sheet cakes, brownies, cupcakes and fruit pies work well. Avoid cream filled or custard baked goods because they spoil easily.

The Fire      To Top of Page

Barbecuing for large groups is usually done over an open pit or in a large portable metal grill, with a wood or charcoal fire. Burn wood down to form a bed of hot coals, then place the coals in the pit for cooking. Not all wood burns well, so select a good supply of dry hardwood. Hickory, oak, pecan, maple and ash provide a good bed of coals when burned, but soft-woods such as pine produce a lot of smoke and off-flavors in the meat. 

Avoid damp or green wood. Start the fire well ahead of the time you expect to cook the meat so that a good bed of coals is available. Keep a modest fire burning to ensure additional coals are available as needed.

Charcoal is the preferred heat source and charcoal briquettes are the best form to use. Estimate the amount of charcoal needed to cover the grill area or to form a bank beside the carcass. Build a pyramid of briquettes and add the lighter fluid. When the briquettes are covered with white ash (about 20 minutes), the fire is ready for cooking. 

Do not light all of the charcoal at once when cooking a large roast or a whole pig, but re supply the fire by adding briquettes to the fire as needed. Use commercial lighter fluid or mineral spirits to start a fire. Never use kerosene or other fuels that are absorbed by the meat and produce off flavors.

When the charcoal is ready, spread it evenly around the grill. For large pieces of meat or for whole carcasses, it is best to place the fire parallel to the meat and not directly under it to reduce flare fires. Always keep a spray bottle or water source handy to extinguish any flare ups and prevent burning the meat. 

Control the heat by removing or adding charcoal to the fire. One firing of charcoal should be sufficient to cook steaks or chops. A moderately hot fire is best for browning ribs or cooking steaks or chops. By placing your hand over the fire at the height of the meat, you can determine the amount of heat: You can hold your hand over a hot fire to a count of four or five and over a low fire to 10. A low fire provides the heat necessary for barbecuing large cuts and whole pigs.

Cooking outdoors was once only a summer activity shared with family and friends. Now more than half of Americans say they are cooking outdoors year round. So whether the snow is blowing or the sun is shining brightly, it's important to follow food safety guidelines to prevent harmful bacteria from multiplying and causing foodborne illness. Use these simple guidelines for grilling food safely.

From the Store: Home First
When shopping, buy cold food like meat and poultry last, right before checkout. Separate raw meat and poultry from other food in your shopping cart. To guard against cross-contamination — which can happen when raw meat or poultry juices drip on other food — put packages of raw meat and poultry into plastic bags.
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Plan to drive directly home from the grocery store or take a lidded cooler, with ice packs,  for your perishables,  keeps them cold so you don't have to worry if you stop for coffee or are delayed. Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours. Refrigerate within 1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F.

At home, place meat and poultry in the refrigerator immediately. Freeze poultry and ground meat that won't be used in 1 or 2 days; freeze other meat within 4 to 5 days.

Defrost Safely
Completely defrost meat and poultry before grilling so it cooks more evenly. Use the refrigerator for slow, safe thawing or thaw sealed packages in cold water. You can microwave defrost if the food will be placed immediately on the grill.

Marinating
Meat and poultry can be marinated for several hours or days to tenderize or add flavor. Marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter. If some of the marinade is to be used as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion of the marinade before putting raw meat and poultry in it. However, if the marinade used on raw meat or poultry is to be reused, make sure to let it come to a boil first to destroy any harmful bacteria.

Transporting
When carrying food to another location, keep it cold to minimize bacterial growth. Use an insulated cooler with sufficient ice or ice packs to keep the food at 40 °F or below. Pack food right from the refrigerator into the cooler immediately before leaving home.

Keep Cold Food Cold
Keep meat and poultry refrigerated until ready to use. Only take out the meat and poultry that will immediately be placed on the grill.

When using a cooler, keep it out of the direct sun by placing it in the shade or shelter. Avoid opening the lid too often, which lets cold air out and warm air in. Pack beverages in one cooler and perishables in a separate cooler.

Keep Everything Clean
Be sure there are plenty of clean utensils and platters. To prevent foodborne illness, don't use the same platter and utensils for raw and cooked meat and poultry. Harmful bacteria present in raw meat and poultry and their juices can contaminate safely cooked food.

If you're eating away from home, find out if there's a source of clean water. If not, bring water for preparation and cleaning. Or pack clean cloths, and wet towelettes for cleaning surfaces and hands.

Precooking
Precooking food partially in the microwave, oven, or stove is a good way of reducing grilling time. Just make sure that the food goes immediately on the preheated grill to complete cooking.

SAFE MINIMUM INTERNAL TEMPERATURES
Whole poultry: 165 °F
Poultry breasts: 165 °F
Ground poultry: 165 °F
Hamburgers, beef: 160 °F
Beef, veal, and lamb (steaks, roasts and chops):
Medium rare 145 °F
Medium 160 °F
All cuts of pork: 160 °F
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Cook Thoroughly
Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. Use a food thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature. Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts and chops can be cooked to 145 °F. Hamburgers made of ground beef should reach 160 °F. All cuts of pork should reach 160 °F. All poultry should reach a minimum of 165 °F.

Safe Smoking
Smoking is cooking food indirectly in the presence of a fire. It can be done in a covered grill if a pan of water is placed beneath the meat on the grill; and meats can be smoked in a "smoker," which is an outdoor cooker especially designed for smoking foods. Smoking is done much more slowly than grilling, so less tender meats benefit from this method, and a natural smoke flavoring permeates the meat. The temperature in the smoker should be maintained at 250 to 300 °F for safety.

Use a food thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe internal temperature.

Pit Roasting
Pit roasting is cooking meat in a large, level hole dug in the earth. A hardwood fire is built in the pit, requiring wood equal to about 2½ times the volume of the pit. The hardwood is allowed to burn until the wood reduces and the pit is half filled with burning coals. This can require 4 to 6 hours burning time.

Cooking may require 10 to 12 hours or more and is difficult to estimate. A food thermometer must be used to determine the meat's safety and doneness. There are many variables such as outdoor temperature, the size and thickness of the meat, and how fast the coals are cooking.
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Does Grilling Pose a Cancer Risk?
Some studies suggest there may be a cancer risk related to eating food cooked by high-heat cooking techniques as grilling, frying, and broiling. Based on present research findings, eating moderate amounts of grilled meats like fish, meat, and poultry cooked — without charring — to a safe temperature does not pose a problem.

To prevent charring, remove visible fat that can cause a flare-up. Precook meat in the microwave immediately before placing it on the grill to release some of the juices that can drop on coals. Cook food in the center of the grill and move coals to the side to prevent fat and juices from dripping on them. Cut charred portions off the meat.

NEVER partially grill meat or poultry and finish cooking later.

Reheating
When reheating fully cooked meats like hot dogs, grill to 165 °F or until steaming hot.

Keep Hot Food Hot
After cooking meat and poultry on the grill, keep it hot until served — at 140 °F or warmer.

Keep cooked meats hot by setting them to the side of the grill rack, not directly over the coals where they could overcook. At home, the cooked meat can be kept hot in a warm oven (approximately 200 °F), in a chafing dish or slow cooker, or on a warming tray.

Serving the Food
When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter. Don't put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry. Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food.

In hot weather (above 90 °F), food should never sit out for more than 1 hour.

Leftovers
Refrigerate any leftovers promptly in shallow containers. Discard any food left out more than 2 hours (1 hour if temperatures are above 90 °F).


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